ISSUE 56July 2014

Editorial notes

In 2006, the late Eddie Clynes, as editor of the AMR wrote: “The fighting spirit of the recent CPA 10th Congress has encouraged the renewed production of the Australian Marxist Review”. Unfortunately, for a number of reasons, the AMR’s revival was short lived and new issues were released on an irregular basis. Just like in 2006, there is no shortage of challenges facing the Australian working class movement so with the 12th CPA congress successfully concluded, it is again time to dust off the AMR and restore it to its former glory.

This issue of the Australian Marxist Review is dedicated to Comrade Eddie Clynes who died last year.

He was an exemplary communist whose penetrating intellect and practical leadership were seminal within the Communist Party of Australia. His ideological and political leadership was fundamental to the development of Communist Party of Australia policies.

Comrade Eddie was crucial in the development of the party’s education programs and was respected and admired for his political education classes in which he was able to involve students, get them thinking, and make complicated concepts accessible. His class notes remain a valuable resource.

This issue of the AMR republishes a number of articles by Comrades Clynes as well as articles on the topic of education.

If our Party is to fulfill its historic mission then it will require advanced theory and correct policies. Lenin in What is to be Done said: “The role of vanguard fighter can be fulfilled only by a party that is guided by the most advanced theory”. The Australian Marxist Review is a platform for the propagation of Marxism Leninism among our comrades. When combined with Party education, branch meetings and practical activities, it is a powerful tool for the ongoing political development of our members.

We live in a time where the rights and conditions our predecessors struggled for are being eroded at a growing rate. Now more than ever, our comrades need to be active in their workplaces and in the community. The need for practical struggle does not diminish the importance of theory, on the contrary: “Practice without theory is blind. Theory without practice is sterile”. As the need for action increases, so does the need for theory and correct policy. The AMR has an important role to play in equipping comrades with the theory that is so vital to our practical action.

The conditions under which we struggle are changing. Although old contradictions continue to exist, they change in form and intensity. The classics are not set in stone as timeless commandments to our movement. As Lenin said: “We do not regard Marx’s theory as something completed and inviolable; on the contrary, we are convinced that it has only laid the foundation stone of the science which socialists must develop in all directions if they wish to keep pace with life”.

Readers are encouraged to share their own insights and contributions by submitting them to the AMR. A widely distributed and read theoretical journal, filled with contributions from the membership, would be a powerful tool in our Party’s arsenal.